The vast majority of computer owners have no idea what makes their computer fast, let alone how fast it is. Mention Moore’s Law and you will most likely just get a blank stare. This is a theory that computing power doubles every year in case you want to impress your techie friends. This has turned out to be an accurate assessment, making today’s computer around a million times faster than those first personal computers used during the dark ages.

You might think that having a PC that fast is really great, but its performance capability is mostly being wasted and your money along with it. You are better off buying an affordable standard computer than is able to handle your daily activities, not the activities going on at NASA.

For the things that you do the most with your computer, that kind of power is simply not necessary. Consider what you are doing on your PC. It is primarily being used for your internet activities. You surf the web, chat on Facebook and maybe complete some online surveys. You don’t really need a lot of power for these activities anymore, but it does make them faster.

Take online surveys for example. When you go to a site like SwagBucks or CashCrate there is a lot of activity on these pages. You need to enter your information, access the surveys and then move through them page by page. With a faster computer you can take more surveys and earn more money because the information is getting downloaded quicker.

Another favorite internet activity that is greatly improved by speed is streaming videos. Whether you like to watch feature length movies, T.V. shows or just youtube videos, the speed of your PC will have a big impact on the quality of the video you watch.

Many of us are using our computers as our stereo systems as well. This too involves downloading that can take a long time or be broken on a slower PC. Newer and faster models are designed with the power needed to download, store, and even transfer music to physical devices like CDs or digital ones like MP3s.

If you are involved in any high tech activities such as video editing or creating graphics, than you really have no choice but to go for the faster moving PC. These types of tasks put a strain on your computer that calls for a great deal of power. If this is a primary task for your PC than invest in one that is built for speed.

If your day to day PC use consists of not much more than surfing to survey sites like SwagBucks and Cash Crate than your current computer is fine. Remember Moore’s Law, speed doubles per year. The longer you can stick it out with what you have, the faster your next computer will be. While it is nice to zip through the survey site, it will be even nicer a year from now.

Ever wondered what the heck is inside your PC? How can this square block of metal perform enormous amount of computation in a blink of an eye? How can it let you play games that require powerful graphical processing capabilities along with superb calculation and artificial intelligence? You don’t need to study computer science or get a degree that has something to do with computers to understand them. They are pretty straightforward but learning them can be a great asset especially if you are encountering problems with your PC. By knowing the basic parts of your PC and understanding how they work, you’ll be able to appreciate the wonders of computers and hopefully, help you in times of need.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The CPU or central processing unit, (also called as processor) is often called as the brain of the computer. Its job is to carry commands. When you move your mouse or press a key, you’re sending instructions to the CPU. A processor’s speed is measured in megahertz (Mhz), or millions of instructions for every second, and gigahertz (Ghz), or billions of instructions for every second. A faster processor can execute instructions more rapidly. Nonetheless, the real speed of the computer relies on upon the speed of numerous distinctive components—not only the processor.

Motherboard

The motherboard is where the CPU and other components of the computer connect. It’s the main circuit board, a thin plate that holds the CPU, memory and cables to the hard drive, expansion cards, DVD drive, USB ports and more.

Power Supply Unit

The power supply unit in a computer changes over the force from the wall outlet to the kind of power required by the computer. It sends power through the links to the motherboard and different components.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

This is your computer’s short term memory. Whenever your computer performs calculations, it temporarily stores the data into the RAM until it is needed. The more RAM you have, the more things your computer can do at the same time. If you’re a gamer or developer, 8GB of RAM is perfect for you to ensure a smooth game play and working experience.

Hard drive

This is where data are permanently kept. This is where all of your games, software and OS are installed. This is also where your files are located. Unlike the RAM, where all data is lost when you turn off or unplug the PC, the hard drive will store all of your data indefinitely.

Video Card

This is the one responsible for processing video and computer graphics. They also have their own memory and speed. Basically, the bigger the memory and the faster the speed it has, the faster your computer will be when processing graphics intensive applications like games and 3D rendering.

Other Expansion Cards

The sound card, network card and Bluetooth cards are all optional as they come integrated into most motherboards. FYI, video cards are integrated too, but if you want better and higher quality performance, you might want to consider buying expansion cards.

It has been a part of our daily lives, using the internet and computers (as well as smartphones and tablets) became somewhat of a “necessity”. We use it for chatting with friends, calculating expenses, paying bills and doing our projects and assignments. In fact, most businesses today use a computer to help them in their daily tasks and reports. Therefore, getting a powerful anti-virus is a must if you want to keep safe in the World Wide Web.

Great browsing habits and “common sense” just get you so far on the internet. A decent antivirus utility is worth keeping in your pocket in the event that both of those two things fizzle you (as they have been known to previously) or somebody less tech-savvy approaches you for a decent instrument. Now, we’re taking a gander at some of the best antivirus tools.

Avast! Free Antivirus

It is one of the most popular tools on the internet and is used by millions of people worldwide. I personally use this antivirus and have no problems ever since. The best thing about this is its free. It’s one of the top picks available. It has powerful real-time shields, even if on its free version. It will provide you with real time protection and block malicious files from executing to prevent further damage. I was infected with a nasty “virus.ramnit” file from my external drive, good thing that when I plugged my external drive to my PC, Avast instantly blocked the file preventing further damage to my system.

Bitdefender Free and Paid Antivirus

Bitdefender tops when it comes to independent lab tests. Bitdefender prides itself on offering a single click antivirus and security device for individuals who both need to have the capacity to get their hands grimy when they need to and in addition individuals who simply require a straightforward instrument that runs and keeps them ensured from dangers without a huge amount of tweaking. Whether you strive for the paid or the free form, Bitdefender’s negligible interface and lightweight interface earned the applause of the people at AV Comparatives. Bitdefender’s Internet Security ($80) suite accompanies a firewall, parental controls, and other helpful instruments to keep your framework and apparently every last bit of its clients safe.

Kaspersky Antivirus

Kaspersky Antivirus is a bit of a controversial entry. It gains to a great degree high acclaim in a few quarters, and aversion in others. As far as concerns them, AV Comparatives provided for it their result of the year award, which include for a ton our book. Kaspersky gloats fast updates, solid heuristics, and the capability to rapidly adjust to new dangers without requiring entire product updates to keep you secured. It’s a completely featured antivirus apparatus that offers both on-access and on-interest checking of files, messages, downloads, and executed applications.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

ESET’s Nod32 Antivirus suite has been prevalent for quite a long time, and has earned a reputation for offering finish on-access and on-demand protection while being to a great degree lightweight in terms of system resources. On the off chance that you thought you’d need to adjust execution with protection, Nod32 has consistently demonstrated you don’t.